Page 35 of Corrupting Ivy

He wasn’t mad. In fact, he didn't emanate any emotion which unnerved me.

“At what?” He gripped my arm and turned it, showing me my elbow. Blood tinged my skin where it had peeled away. “It’s just a scrape. I’ll be fine. I didn’t even know it was there.” The rush of tingling pain engulfed me. If he hadn’t pointed it out, I probably wouldn’t have noticed until everything calmed down.

“What were you thinking?”

He shook off my hand as he rose to his feet and dug into a box, finding a roll of paper towels, then wet it at the sink. He sunk back down to his knees and tended to my wound.

“Why does everyone ask me what I’m thinking? Can’t a girl just help someone?” I winced and pulled away from the sting. “That dumb girl was in the middle of it all. She was lucky she didn’t get her head bashed in.”

“You’re lucky I was there, or you would have been the ‘dumb girl’ getting her head bashed in.”

He pressed the damp towel to my elbow again, and I hissed through my teeth. “Excuse me for trying to do the right thing.” I watched as he patted the area, tinting the white towel red with blood.

“People like that don’t deserve your help. They set their fate.”

“If you believed that, you wouldn’t have helped me.”

He glanced up and stared into my eyes with an intensity I’d never felt before. It was as though his soul was trying to connect with mine forcefully. “I believe it. You don’t deserve the punishment meant for another.”

My skin flushed, and it suddenly felt unbearably hot back here. He went back to cleaning my elbow, which I was certain didn’t need all the attention provided. “Where—” I cleared my throat, not sure if I wanted the answer to my question, “where did you learn to fight like that?”

His gaze flicked up to mine. “I had a rough childhood.”

I tilted my head back. “Ah, that explains it.”

“Explains what?”

“You.” I paused. “The need for control. Not wanting to be touched. Your broody, dark personality.”

“You think you have me figured out?” he scoffed.

I shook my head, laughing. “Oh, no. I have a feeling you are one puzzle that cannot be cracked.”

He released his grip on my arm, and threw away the paper towel. My heart thumped in my chest as the surrounding sounds ebbed, and all that was left was him and I.

“I’m not worth the time it takes to figure it out.”

I stood and walked towards him. “That’s where you’re wrong.”

Randall grabbed my upper arm, his hand on my neck, then spun me around and pinned me to the wall. “You don’t want to get to know me. I’m not a good man, and I’ll never be one.” I ground my teeth. “Girls like you want to change men like me, but you can’t fix something that doesn’t need fixing.”

His thumb with the dagger tattoo caressed my jaw, then he squeezed my throat. “I never said I wanted to change you,” I said, biting my lip. “I just think you’re worth getting to know.”

He brought his lips tantalizingly close. “That’s where you’re wrong,” he said, throwing my words back at me.

I pushed my luck and brushed my fingertips across his hand holding my throat. When he didn’t pull away, I wrapped mine around his wrist. “I don’t believe that.”

He tightened his grip around my throat until the pulse hit my temples, and he smiled. “You don’t know what you’re asking.”

“I’m tired of the warnings, Randall.” My knees weakened as the blood flow to my brain slowed. How was I not afraid of him? Of this? Somehow, despite the show of aggression and chest-thumping, I felt safe with him even as my head pounded from the pressure.

A deep growl rattled his chest.

Maybe it wasn’t such a smart idea to provoke the beast, but I wanted to see what all the fuss was about. I needed to see why he didn’t feel worthy. I wanted to understand Remy’s warning.

“I don’t do relationships.”

I bit my lip. “Neither do I. Not anymore.”

---